Hope in the Strangest of Ways
by MelancholyMadness
Summary: Matthew smiled. If Canada could celebrate on July First... So could Matthew. And who cares if his birthday was always eclipsed by Alfred's? A FACE family Canada Day fic.


**AN** I wrote this for Canada Day and I realise that I'm late, but like the amazing Canadian that I am, on Canada Day weekend I was having fun and was partying, so... Sorry that this is late and... Sorry if the writing style is sort of weird near the beginning, because I think it is. And sorry for apologising so much. Sorry...

**Disclaimer:** Like the majority of the world, I do not own the characters of Hetalia, the countries of the world, Niagara Falks, both the American side and the Canadian side and never will I ever own a water buffalo, but that has nothing to do with anything.

**Summary:** "Matthew's eyes widened. That was why he came to Canada. He wanted his family to have to come get him." A FACE family Canada Day fic.

**Hope in the Strangest of Ways**

Despite what people thought, Matthew and Alfred Kirkland-Bonnefoy were not twins. Yes they looked very similar and yes they were in the same grade, but Alfred was older than Matthew by a year.

Now neither brother tried to stop people from thinking these things either. Matthew wasn't the type of person to boast about skipping a grade (or really, he wasn't the type to bring attention to himself for anything) and half the time Alfred forgot Matthew existed (though he apologized profusely for it whenever he did remember him), so their different ages never spread.

Alfred and Matthew were very close as kids. Alfred had always stood up for his brother when their father had come home and beat him.

You see, not long after giving birth to Matthew, their mother had left them. The boys suspected it was because she finally decided to stop putting up with their father's violent and controlling nature, but they'd never actually know. However, when she left, her departure was blamed on the newborn Matthew. What didn't help matters was that as he grew, he became the spitting image of the woman that had given birth to him.

What always comes to mind when Matthew thinks back to those days was when he was four and his father had come home late. Their babysitter had left as quickly as she could after catching sight of their father, not even bothering to grab money.

The moment she had escaped, his father had picked Matthew up from the corner he was playing with. He'd looked at him with dark bloodshot eyes, his breath reeking of beer, and slapped him across the face. There was nothing little Matthew could do as his father proceeded to kick him, hitting the bruises from yesterday, all the while yelling that it was all his fault and that he should have never been born.

Matthew had been terrified because usually the beatings didn't last as long as that one had. He was so sorry. He didn't mean to make his father unhappy...

That was when little Alfred, only five, had managed to open up his locked bedroom door. He ran over to his brother's silent crying form and stood in front of him, his superman cape tied tightly around his neck and his Captain America shield held up strong and proud. He had looked up at his father with his little blue eyes and said, "Mattie's my brother and you can't touch him, 'cause I'm the hero and heroes don't let their sidekicks get hurt!"

Of course, both of them had ended up hurt in the end, but... to Matthew, that didn't matter.

Matthew grew up to be quiet and submissive and Alfred in turn became loud and gained a hero complex. However, in the years with their father, the two brothers had been practically inseparable. Alfred was Matthew's hero.

Child services took them away when Matthew was six after his grade one teacher saw some of Matthew's bruises. The two boys moved in with Francis and Arthur, a Frenchman and an Englishman. Within a few days, Alfred had Arthur and Francis wrapped around his tiny seven year old pinky. He was the favourite child and was always doing things that the couple deemed 'adorable'. In this new home, at first Matthew was happier than he had ever been before. Of course, no one ever paid attention to him, but they didn't hit him or say things that hurt his feelings either. He knew that he was safe.

He remembered an occurrence only a few weeks after he moved in with the Kirkland-Bonnefoy family when he had tipped over a glass of water. Matthew had cried and apologised so many times. He said that he'd never do it again and that he'd be a good boy, he promised.

Arthur and Francis had been stunned. They had been informed of what the boys had been through, but... it was only a glass of water.

What had snapped them out of it was when Matthew, still crying had said "I'm so sorry I was born. I'm sorry I made you unhappy..."

Francis reacted first, turning to his partner to express a look of shock before kneeling beside the distraught boy. Matthew flinched as Francis gently wiped a tear from his face. Matthew's crying gradually turned to sniffles as he looked up at the man. Francis had simply smiled sadly and said, "We love you and we're so glad to have you with us. You don't need to mon petit Mathieu. It's just a glass of water et vous t'aimez. Ne pleures pas. (1)"

Matthew felt so loved...

Within a year of living without any recognition however, the violet eyed boy began to fade into the distance. He was too shy to make friends and his family began to forget about him. He'd learned to be quiet and not speak up as a child, so he was naturally quiet by nature. In comparison to Alfred, he was mute.

In fact, Matthew had been selectively mute multiple times.

Matthew was lonely. He was sad. He was depressed. He felt unwanted and alone and thought that fate must not like him because nothing ever went right. He knew that he shouldn't have existed...

When he was seven, he came up with the best idea. Because no one remembered him, he decided to excel. He studied all the time and always did his homework and when he wasn't trying to get better grades he was reading books and learning languages and playing instruments. He always listened to what people told him. He was polite and well behaved and he even did extra chores around the house.

Matthew skipped grade three and the teachers said he could have skipped more if he wanted to.

When he told Arthur of his grand achievement, he'd expected... something. Maybe a congratulatory hug? Arthur had told Matthew that he was busy working with Alfred on his homework. He tried again later, but the response had been "I don't have time Michael. Alfred wants a glass of milk."

His name wasn't Michael.

Next he tried telling Francis. At first, Francis hadn't responded either. Getting desperate he told the man his news in French, trying to appeal to his French heritage. Francis had patted his back and told him that his pronunciation was off. Then he had walked away and gone to bed.

Matthew knew his pronunciation isn't wrong. He just learnt his French from the nice lady down the road from Québec. He sighed and decided to learn France French. Maybe Francis would pay attention to him more...

He became bilingual, but it didn't help.

Matthew's least favourite time of the year is the beginning of July. His birthday is the first of July and Alfred's is the fourth of July.

Now don't get him wrong, Matthew loves his brother a lot and he's glad that Francis and Arthur make such a big deal out of his birthday. Alfred deserves to have a happy birthday. After all, his birth is definitely something to celebrate. The only thing Matthew doesn't like about it is that Alfred's birthday is always stretched out. They celebrate Alfred's birthday for the first seven days of July. Every day he gets a present and everyday he has a party with all of his friends from school. Alfred just needed to bat his bright big blue eyes and ask nicely.

Matthew has never had a birthday party before. He hasn't received a birthday present since he was eight. Matthew doesn't like his birthday.

The Kirkland-Bonnefoy family lived in Rochester, New York, but for Alfred's eleventh birthday they all hopped in the family car and drove to Niagara Falls. They made sure to leave on June 30 so that they would be able to celebrate Alfred's weeklong birthday like usual.

On Matthew's birthday, July 1, he gave his present to his brother (The Captain America DVD) as fast as he could and fled the hotel, deciding spontaneously to leave. He wanted to have a birthday where it wasn't all about Alfred.

He wasn't sure where he was going, but he ran from the building and down the street. He ran and he ran and when he finally stopped, he realised that he had arrived at the Falls. Now, this had been his first time at the Falls, so he wasn't entirely sure what to expect. What he didn't expect was that he could only see them from the side, unless of course he were to go on the long half bridge/landing. In all the pictures he'd seen, he could always see the full horse shoe.

Matthew decided that he would look around to find a better view. After all, his family wouldn't notice him gone, so he had lots of time and he was ten years old now. Double digits! He was old enough to wander. As he walked around, for the first time he noticed that there was a bridge. That was when he remembered that the other side of Niagara Falls was in Canada. That must have been where the bridge leads.

Matthew smiled. He'd never been to Canada before.

Because Matthew was so smart, he decided that he could probably sneak across the border. After all, no one ever noticed him anyways. He'd just use his invisibility to his advantage.

The now ten year old boy had snuck around cars and ducked behind them at all the right moments to pass by all of the traffic on the bridge. When he got to the border, he'd waited until the police officer was turned around to duck and run through, officially making it to Canada.

The moment didn't really hit him until he was lying on the grass just away from the Falls. He started laughing. He'd actually done it! He was in Canada! He'd crossed the border!

...He felt bad that he'd had to trick the security man though. He was just doing his job. Matthew hoped the man didn't get in trouble. He also hoped that no one had noticed his crossing.

In the depths of his heart, he also hoped that maybe, just maybe, his family would realise he was gone and come look for him... Just maybe...

Matthew's eyes widened. That was why he came to Canada. He wanted his family to have to come get him.

He was shocked out of his realisation by a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, thinking back to his father, took a deep breath to compose himself and looked up to see a kind face looking down at him in worry.

The hand belonged to a slightly plump woman with caramel coloured hair and a heart shaped face. "Are you okay dear? Where are your parents?"

Matthew pursed his lips as he came up with a lie. "My parents are in the bathroom. I didn't have to go, so they told me to stay _right here_ and _not move at all_."

Her worried eyebrows relaxed. "I'll stay here with you while you wait for them, if you'd like? I wouldn't want anyone snatching you up."

Matthew realised that wouldn't do. If the nice lady stayed with him, she'd find out that he was actually alone. Maybe she'd even send him back across the border. What would Alfred do in this situation? Well Alfred would... He sighed, realising the answer. He felt sorry already. "Miss, I'm ten years old and... And well... I-I don't need... People babying me..."

The lady's face dropped and Matthew's heart went out to the woman.

"I-I'm really sorry! I... I just meant that I... I don't want to cause you any trouble and... And they'll be back soon anyways. I'm sorry."

She smiled at him. "Well, my name's Ms. Davidson and if you need anything, I'll just be right over there. Okay Hun?" She pointed to a family sitting on the grass not too far from him eating sandwiches.

Matthew smiled at the nice woman. "Okay. Thank you for... For caring."

Ms. Davidson smiled and said goodbye, returning to her snacking family.

Matthew sighed. He decided that he liked Canada. He relocated so that Ms. Davidson wouldn't get suspicious, but within the span of an hour, four other people had asked him about his parents. People here seemed to care. And they noticed him!

Finally after being near the Falls for about an hour, Matthew finally decided to take a look at them. The first thing he noticed was that the Canadian side of the falls were quite large. They formed a horseshoe and left a column of mist continuously rising in the centre. They were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It struck him with awe that something that magnificent was created naturally.

He stared at the Falls for hours before finally going to sit on the grass again. He was starting to get hungry. Matthew hoped that his family might find him soon. Or... At least be looking for him. Or... At least have noticed that he left.

It was six o clock when Matthew woke up. He'd accidentally fallen asleep on a bench outside of one of the gift stores.

The first thing he noticed was that he was /really/hungry. The second thing really surprised him because he hadn't noticed before.

What he noticed was that everywhere he looked there were Canadian flags and the colours red and white. It was everywhere. People had little Canadian flags and had red t-shirts. One man even had a maple leaf painted on his face.

Matthew hadn't realised that Canadians were so patriotic.

XxXxXLine~BreakXxXxX

Matthew sighed. He was cold and tired and hungry, but no one had found him yet. It was almost ten o clock and still his family hadn't found him. Matthew sighed again. He thought that at least by now they'd have found him. It was already dark out...

Maybe he just wasn't meant to have people care about him. Well, that's not true. Matthew knew that in their own way, his family did care. It was just that... They didn't remember that he existed long enough to show him. Matthew almost sighed again, but instead let out a gasp.

From over the falls, a set of giant red fireworks had gone off, illuminating the entire sky and casting gleams on the mist from the falls. A cheer went through the observers and another set of fireworks went off, this time both red and white. Matthew cheered with the rest of the spectators as a string of long thin ones flew up in different directions.

Wanting to know the occasion, he turned timidly to the man beside him. "Excuse me sir? I-I was just wondering... What is the special o-occasion?"

The man had sharp unfriendly features. "What do they teach kids in school know a days? It's Canada Day, just like every other July First."

Matthew blushed and looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry." He said switching to look at the man's feet. "I'm not from here, so..."

The sharp face man frowned. "Those stupid Americans. They always forget about Canada. Idiots. Can't even remember their own neighbour." He turned and made his way thicker into the people and away from Matthew.

For a moment, Matthew didn't know what to think, so he turned to look at the beautiful display over Niagara Falls, observing all of the celebratory colours. Turning around him, he saw all of the flags and maple leaves on everyone and the sea of red and white.

Everyone forgot about Canada, but... The Canadians still celebrated. They lit their fireworks and brought out their flags and even if everyone else on the planet had no clue what was special, they were still partying and loving their nation. Canada didn't need anyone else to celebrate. Canada could celebrate all it felt like.

Matthew smiled. If Canada could celebrate on July First... So could Matthew. And who cares if his birthday was always eclipsed by Alfred's, who had his on the fourth.

Warmth filled Matthew's chest. He knew that every birthday he had, even if no one celebrated it... Well, he'd learn from Canada and he'd celebrate it all by himself if he needed to, because even if he didn't have friends to party with him on his birthday, he had a whole country across the border partying alongside him.

Feeling content, the blonde decided that it was probably time for him to go back to the good old US of A. Maybe there would be leftovers for him to eat. (He was really hungry...)

The security at the border was even more lax at night and it probably didn't help that there was a fireworks display going off. Matthew simply ducked right on by, passing a different guard than the last time, and ran off the bridge.

He was going to simply run right back to the hotel, but was stopped by a rough grip on his shoulders.

Matthew scrunched his eyes shut and curled away from the person.

"Hey boy. You're out awfully late, hmm?" It was the voice of a man. He slid the hand that was gripping him around Matthew's shoulders, not loosening his grip. "How about I take you to my house and we can... play a little game until morning?" Fear crept into Matthew and started to settle in his stomach, making room for panic.

Matthew tried to shove the man off as hard as he could, but he wasn't strong enough. Instead he just made the man dig harder into his shoulders so that he couldn't struggle.

"Stop fighting you worthless brat!"

Memories he'd tried to block away came back to him and he stopped fighting, retreating into his formerly more submissive behaviour. He gave up. Defeat sunk into his shoulders and posture. He knew that he was worthless...

Appearing at the crucial moment like the hero he was, a voice came from down the street as a figure came charging at them. Alfred sprinted towards Matthew and the man and used his recently acquired football skills to tackle the man off of Matthew and onto the ground, punching him in the face.

"That's my brother you were touching, you creep!" Alfred said getting off of the man. He turned to face his younger brother.

Matthew slowly reopened his eyes and tears started streaming from his eyes. "Y-You saved me..."

Alfred smiled at his brother sadly and pulled him into a hug. "I couldn't let him touch you. I'm the hero and heroes never let their sidekicks get hurt."

Matthew gripped his brother his brother's shirt tighter. "I was so scared Al..." He sniffled. "I thought... How did you find me?"

(The creepy man used their distraction to flee.)

Alfred pulled away to look his brother in the eyes. "I've been looking for you all day. Arthur, Francis and I have been searching since nine this morning. Where did you go, Mattie? We were so worried!"

Matthew hugged his brother. "I... I went to celebrate my birthday."

Alfred looked confused. "Your birthday? Why? When's your... Oh. Today's your birthday isn't it?"

Matthew looked at his feet and nodded.

Alfred nudged his chin up to look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry Matt. We didn't mean to, it's just..." Alfred sighed. "Let's go find Artie and Francis." Alfred took Matthew's hand.

Matthew followed Alfred as he took him through a seemingly random selection of streets and alleyways. They passed closed stores and houses that had already settled in for the night.

When Alfred stopped, Matthew looked around. It appeared like all the other streets, except this one had two men slumped on the sidewalk asleep holding each other with a strange looking box sitting beside them. Alfred, ever the thoughtful, ran up to them and shook them, causing them to bump heads.

Francis and Arthur were not impressed.

"This is entirely your fault, you bloody git!" Arthur yelled at Francis. "I told you not to hold me in public!"

Francis pouted. "But, mon petit Arthur, I was too worried about cher Mathieu to sleep alone~ I needed someone to hold~"

"You're still fighting, eh?" Matthew smiled gently at his two father figures.

Alfred rolled his eyes. "When don't they fight, Mattie?" he whispered, getting a snicker out of Matthew.

Arthur stood up. "Anyways, we need to go and search for Matthew. I can't believe he'd run away."

"Oui... Et sur son anniversaire, aussi...(2)" Francis mumbled.

"Tu as su qu'il a été mon anniversaire aujourd'hui?(3)" Matthew asked, completely surprised.

"Bien sûr, nous avons su qu'il a été ton anniversaire aujourd'hui. Now let us find, cher Mathieu.(4)" Francis said, standing up. He turned to go searching for Matthew, but then realised that he had just been speaking to the boy. "Mathieu!"

Matthew blushed and looked up at the older man. "Bonjour Francis... Were you guys actually looking for me?"

Arthur spluttered. "O-Of course we were looking for you! You're our son and we love you!"

Francis hooked an arm around Arthur, pulled him close, and breathed into his neck. "Je l'aime quand tu montres que tu as d'affection pour nous. (5)" Arthur jumped away and blushed when Francis kissed his neck.

"PDA!" Alfred screamed. Matthew just blushed and giggled.

Remembering that they had spectators, Arthur pushed Francis away, mumbling, "Frog."

Alfred laughed obnoxiously, then stopped abruptly. He had remembered something. "Hey Artie? Aren't you forgetting something?" His eyes drifted to the oddly shaped box on the side of the road.

Arthur's eyes widened. "Oh yes! Bloody frog... Distracting me..." He walked towards the box and gently picked it up. Making his way to Matthew, he was very careful not to jostle or drop the box.

Matthew took the box gently. "I-Is this... For me?" He looked at Arthur, Francis and Alfred hopefully.

"Well ya of course dude! We wouldn't just give you something and then take it back! That would be like so unheroic of us!" Alfred declared jokingly to his brother.

Matthew blushed and carefully opened the box.

At first he thought it was just a big box of fluffy fur, but then said fur work up from its nap. It was a small white puppy with black eyes and black features and a curled tail.

Matthew smiled. It was probably the cutest thing he'd ever seen. "W-What kind of puppy is it?"

Francis smiled. "He's an American Eskimo Dog and his name is Kumajiro. We bought him from a Japanese family a few blocks over from here."

"Ya and they had this totally kick ass son named Kiku and he said that he was totally gonna move down to where we live, like for reals y'all!"

Arthur sighed. "Sometimes your mutilation of the English makes me crin-"

Francis smiled at Arthur, cutting him off, while grabbing his hand in the process. "Mais tu l'aime (6), mon petit~"

Arthur blushed and looked away, making no move to remove the hand. "I most certainly do not, wanker and yours is no better with your accent!"

"But you adore my accent, mon cher. Or at least, that's what you said last-"

The British man conveniently covered Francis' mouth with his hand, only to squeal and jump away when Francis licked him.

Matthew couldn't help but feel warmth in his heart. Okay, so maybe he wasn't the centre of attention, or the star of the show. Maybe he wasn't as athletic or popular as his brother. Maybe he was shy and people forgot about him all the time. But... Maybe that didn't matter. Maybe what did matter was that his family had spent a whole day looking for him, remembered his birthday AND bought him Kuma... Kichi? Maybe all that mattered was that they made an effort and they truly did care.

And anyways, he thought with a smile, looking at his family's insane antics, maybe it was good that they had at least one sane person in the house.

**AN** I have many things that must be said, so bear with me here people (or just skip over and review, because reviews make me feel loved).

First of all, I feel the need to give credit to all of the things that need credit! I give credit to the American side of the falls. Personally, I like ours better ;) but they're both really really pretty and stuff. I also must give credit to border control. I have crossed the Canada-US border a multitude of times and if it were as easy as I made it sound... Oh how would life be easier. However, screw reality, because I didn't want to write "And then he pulled up to the booth and held up his passport, was asked a shit load of questions, yada yada yada". Power of the author! Lastly, I give credit to my friend Naviar, the lovely D, who helped me pick what type of dog Kumakichi was and for helping me convert inches to centimetres. I was using an American site and it confused me. D you are the best!

Second of all, I apologise for any mistakes. I didn't bother to bug my beta, the lovely Madik, because I was lazy, so this is unbeta'd. If you happen to see a problem... Tell me please! I also apologise for any mistakes in my French. I did it all off the top of my head, so I didn't use a translator or bother to get it checked. If you see a problem... Tell me please!

Third of all, I didn't mean for there to be angst at the beginning with the whole father thing, but... I also hope I didn't make Artie and Franny sound like neglectful patents or anything because they aren't. Or at least don't realise it of they are. They try, okay?

Fourth of all, I liked the little AU I made. I mean, gold is one of my favourite precious metals and- I mean I actually liked what I did with the characters (though the sadness was sad) and I was thinking about possibly writing more for it and stuff, but when they're older and stuff. Stuff. Maybe do some PruCan... If you think this idea is appealing... Tell me please! I wrote this because some of my friends (The Table) were writing stuff, but I didn't post this there because I might continue it, so of you want other Canada Day fics, check them out!

Fifth of all, I'd really appreciate reviews. Reviews are what tell me that it's good enough that you bothered to spend two extra minutes to tell me "It was good." I literally do a happy dance every time I see a new review. Literally.

Review and I will dance around me kitchen. :P

**-Ash**

PS I'm sorry for my huge ass author's note.

**La Français**

(1) and we love you. Don't cry.

(2) Yes... And on his birthday too...

(3) You knew that it was my birthday today?

(4) Of course we knew that it was your birthday today.

(5) I love it when you show that you care about us.

(6) But you love it~

Review please?


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